


And Six is Shennanigans

by AnnaTheHank



Series: Three's a Crowd but Five's a Family [7]
Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: M/M, Memory Loss, Multi, New baby on the way, light angst followed by wholesome family vibes, memory retrieval
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:35:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26592244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaTheHank/pseuds/AnnaTheHank
Summary: Crowley wakes up one day to find that everyone else has seemingly forgotten about Gabriel, life passing as if he never existed.He sets off to find everyone's memories, and make sure it never happens again
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens), Aziraphale/Crowley/Gabriel (Good Omens), Aziraphale/Gabriel (Good Omens), Crowley/Gabriel (Good Omens)
Series: Three's a Crowd but Five's a Family [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1576834
Comments: 12
Kudos: 21





	And Six is Shennanigans

**Author's Note:**

> Wow this took a million years and its only half way done!!!!  
> Most of the angst is in this chapter, but there's twice as much wholesome family vibes in the next!! So thank you all for reading and enjoying and humoring my lil family life <3 <3 <3
> 
> (rushed edit job cause it's late and I can't be bothered to wait til tomorrow to post it XD)

It was going to be a hectic morning, one way or another. The twins were starting High School. In four, short years, the blink of an eye really to an immortal, they would be adults, off doing whatever it was they would do. They’d move out. They’d move away. They’d only call on holidays or special occasions. They’d have families of their own and not let Crowley and Aziraphale see them because they had such strange, traumatic childhoods and would want something normal for their own children. 

“You look in danger of overthinking something, dear.” Aziraphale leaned over, still buttoning his shirt, and placed a kiss on Crowley’s forehead as he sat on the edge of the bed. 

“Yeah,” Crowley said. He stretched and rubbed at the back of his head. “Sorry. Just...it’s a big day, y’know?”

Aziraphale nodded and sat next to Crowley. He grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. “They aren’t going to move far away, see us only on holidays, or hide their children from us.”

Crowley gave Aziraphale a side-eyed look. “Stop reading my mind.”

Aziraphale chuckled and placed a hand on one cheek, kissing the other. “I know how you worry, my dear. Everything will be fine.”

“I miss them already,” Crowley admitted. Because having teenagers was a lot different than having kids.

He missed kids.

“I know, my love.” Aziraphale stood up and kissed Crowley’s forehead again. He finished getting dressed. 

“Hey, Aziraphale,” Crowley said, staring at a spot on their carpet.

“Hm?”

“What’s the opposite of Deja Vu?”

Aziraphale looked up as he considered that. “Photo memory?”

“No, like…” Crowley sighed and clicked his tongue, trying to think of how to explain the strange feeling in his chest. “I feel like I should be remembering something that I’m not.”

“I’m sure it’ll come to you, dear.” Aziraphale gave him a smile that nearly melted all his worries away. “I’m going to go start breakfast.” 

Crowley nodded and watched Aziraphale shuffle out of the room. He sat there for a moment, trying to recall what he couldn’t. He gave it up with a shrug and popped on some clothes before heading out for the day.

A.J. was already up and about, the bathroom door open as she brushed her teeth.

“Looking good for day one,” Crowley commented.

A.J. smiled around her toothpaste foam and muffled out a, “Thanks.”

Crowley smiled at her, that weird feeling disappearing. He must have just needed a little reminder that Aziraphale was right. They weren’t perfect, but they made pretty good dads. And the twins might not be kids anymore, but it’s not like the world was ending. 

With the pep back in his step, Crowley bounced down the steps, smile growing as Oscar sat at the island in the kitchen, scribbling something down in a notebook.

“I thought homework didn’t start until at least a week in,” Crowley joked. He kissed the top of Oscar’s head because they would never be too old for that.

“It’s just a letter thing for a friend,” Oscar said. 

With his actual words. 

Crowley raised an eyebrow at Aziraphale, who was placing two plates of food on the countertop. “What?” Aziraphale asked. 

“We...not talking about it?” Crowley said.

“Talking about what?” Oscar asked. He pulled his place over. “Thanks, Dad.”

“You’re welcome,” Aziraphale said. As if everything was perfectly natural.

Crowley slid around to the other side of the island. He dropped his voice to a whisper, watching Oscar to make sure he wasn’t eavesdropping. 

“So can _we_ at least talk about it?” he asked.

“I’m sure we could, if I knew what you wanted to talk about.”

They both smiled at A.J. as she joined Oscar in their meal. Crowley turned around, grabbing Aziraphale’s arm. “He’s talking.”

“Who, dear?”

“Oscar!” Crowley hissed.

Oscar’s head popped up. “Yeah?”

“Just, checking your hearing,” Crowley told him with a nervous chuckle. “You pass!”

The twins stared at him. 

“Do we have to go to school if pops has lost his mind?” A.J. asked.

Aziraphale chuckled. “Yes. So eat up. The bus will be here any minute.”

“ _Bus_?” Crowley asked, feeling like he really had lost his mind.

“It’s this newfangled device they invented to help kids get to school,” Oscar explained. He and A.J. laughed, and Aziraphale hid his own laugh behind his hand. 

“I know what a bus is,” Crowley said, squinting at the little demon. “Why are you taking it? Is something wrong with Gabriel?”

“Who?” Aziraphale asked. 

“Wh… _who?_ ”

A.J. swallowed a bite with a gulp. “I’m pretty sure family emergency includes taking your dad to the looney-bin.”

“Alright, you two.” Aziraphale gave them a disapproving stare and tsked at them. “Leave Crowley alone and get ready for school.”

A.J. and Oscar grumbled but stood up and started packing their bags. Aziraphale turned back around and grabbed Crowley’s arms, rubbing them gently. “Is everything alright, darling? You’re acting very strange this morning.”

“I’m acting strange?” Crowley said. “Me? Mr. Who’s-Gabriel is asking if _I’m_ feeling okay?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know who you’re talking about. I must have forgotten.”

“How the fuck could you forget.”

“There’s no need to get tetchy, dear.”

“THERE IS EVERY NEED TO GET TETCHY!”

A.J. and Oscar had stopped, staring at him again. Aziraphale rubbed over Crowley’s arms some more, calming him a bit. “Alright, dear, it’s okay. Just, refresh my memory, alright?”

“Gabriel,” Crowley hissed, nearing hysterics at this point. It had to be some kind of strange joke. “The _fucking_ archangel!?”

Aziraphale laughed a bit. Good. It was just a joke. “Why would Gabriel be here?”

Crowley could feel his eye twitching. Now they were just taking it too far. “To walk them to school?” he said, in his most capably calm voice. He wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. “Like he’s done since they were five?”

Aziraphale’s laugh dropped, and he furrowed his eyebrows at Crowley. “I...I’m not sure where you would get the idea that he would do or has done that.”

“Right. No, no yeah. Why would a father walk his kids to school? Ridiculous, I know.”

“I can assure you, dear, that Gabriel is most certainly _not_ their father.” Aziraphale shook his head, as if he was convinced Crowley was trying to play a trick on him. 

“No?” Crowley scoffed. They couldn’t lie their way around cold hard facts. He strode across the room to where the twins were waiting by the door, backpacks on and waiting. “Then why are A.J.’s eyes blue?”

He blinked and did a double take, grabbing A.J.’s face and looking at her decidedly not purple eyes. “WHY ARE YOUR EYES BLUE?”

“Uh...genetics?” A.J. offered. 

Crowley felt a shake in his soul that radiated out to his arms, hands vibrating against A.J.s head. He could appreciate a good joke as much as the next demon, but this was different. This was starting to feel like not a joke. Aziraphale could be a bit of a bastard sure, but convincing Oscar to talk? Getting colored contacts for A.J.? Letting it go on this far? That wasn’t his style, and something was wrong.

Aziraphale came up behind Crowley and grabbed his arms, gently pulling them down to his side, holding him in a sort of hug. “Don’t want them to be late, dear.”

Outside Crowley could see the antagonizing yellow of a school bus pull up down the street. “No,” he said. “Something’s wrong. They’re in danger.”

“I promise you, they’re safe and perfectly fine.” Aziraphale kissed the back of Crowley’s head and nodded at the door. 

“Is Pops safe and perfectly fine?” Oscar asked. 

Aziraphale smiled at him. “You let me worry about that. I’m sure he just had a very interesting dream this morning.”

A.J. and Oscar exchanged a look, but there was no arguing with Aziraphale, so they said goodbye and got on the bus, Crowley feeling worse and worse as he watched it drive away. 

“It wasn’t a dream,” he insisted. He’s been known to have some pretty intricate ones, but dreaming up a whole life? With all its twists and turns? No. Everything with Gabriel had been real. _Was_ real.

“Why don’t we sit down and talk it out,” Aziraphale said. He pulled Crowley to the couch and sat them down. “Just tell me everything about this Gabriel thing.” He patted Crowley’s arm, like he was coaxing a wild animal out of hiding. 

Crowley didn’t feel like being patronized, but he didn’t know what else to do.

So he told Aziraphale everything he should already know.

-

Aziraphale hummed, tapping a finger to his chin. He had long since stood up, and was now pacing back and forth across the room. Crowley watched him, deflated against the cushions as he waited. It had been a weird and long retelling. And Aziraphale had been genuinely surprised at most of it. 

“I believe I know what has happened,” he declared.

Crowley sighed in relief. “I hope so, ‘cause I sure as Hell don’t!”

Aziraphale sat back down, looking positively pleased with himself. Crowley wondered briefly if maybe he was about to say it had all been a joke and ha-ha they got him. 

“Alternate universes,” Aziraphale explained. 

Crowley waited for a second, making sure he had heard him right. He scoffed, but Aziraphale did not look like he was kidding. “Seriously?”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Aziraphale explained. “Somehow you, er, swapped places with my Crowley. And you’re from a universe where...all of that with Gabriel happened.”

It seemed like a pretty ridiculous idea, all things considered. “I hope not,” he mumbled. “Your Crowley’s liable to kill Gabriel.”

Aziraphale’s eyes widened. “...Or the opposite,” he whispered.

“There’s got to be another explanation,” Crowley said. “Has to be.”

Aziraphale hummed again, looking down at his lap. He looked back up at Crowley, frowning. “Nothing else comes to mind. I don’t know how to explain where your idea of this...family thing came from.”

“It came from it happening,” Crowley explained, whining a little bit. He huffed and sank further into the couch. 

“I could do some research,” Aziraphale whispered. He shifted over, gently reaching out to place a hand on Crowley’s cheek, as if he still wasn’t convinced this Crowley was his Crowley. Crowley wasn’t so convinced himself, at this point. 

“Sure,” Crowley said. Aziraphale was good at that. Maybe he’d come up with something. 

Aziraphale hesitated for a second then leaned over and kissed Crowley’s forehead. “Would you come with me?” he asked, gesturing to his study door. “Only...I’m a little worried about leaving you alone right now.”

Crowley felt a little worried about everything. Strike that. He felt a lot worried about everything. But there was still one person in this equation he had yet to interrogate. “I’ll be alright,” he said. “I’ve got some research of my own to do.”

-

Sneaking into Heaven was still as easy as it had always been, so Crowley was starting to re-discount Aziraphale’s theory. He slipped along walls, hid among shadows, and basically slithered his way over to Gabriel’s office, right where he had left it. And the big oaf was where he had left him, too.

“Either I’m going to die right here, right now, or you have some explaining to do.”

It was a really dumb plan. Crowley knew that. But knowing something was a dumb plan hardly ever stopped him from going through with it. And when he didn’t die right then and there, he figured it was at least a good plan.

Partially anyway.

“Crowley,” Gabriel said. “What…” he squinted a bit. “What are you doing here?”

It wasn’t the kind of squint like trying to recall a memory. But it also wasn’t the squint of someone about to murder. Crowley wasn’t sure what to think about it. So he shrugged. “Just wondering why you weren’t here this morning to get the kids.”

Gabriel’s face fell. “You remembered?”

Now it was Crowley’s time to squint. “You tried to make me forget?”

Gabriel cleared his throat and stood up, straightening his jacket a bit. “I apologize. I must have made an error. Allow me to fix it.” He walked up to Crowley, reaching out to touch his head. Crowley ducked out of the way and stepped out of reach.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“Making you forget,” Gabriel explained, as if that was a perfectly normal thing he was supposed to do. “It won’t take long.” He moved towards Crowley again, who just jumped out of the way.

“Did you do that to Aziraphale and the kids? Take away their memories?” He climbed onto the desk, hissing at Gabriel to get him to back off. 

Gabriel complied. He stood to the side, hands folding before him. He looked to the side at the floor and said, “Yes.”

Crowley felt the red hot rage building inside him. But that wouldn’t help the situation. So he took a deep, steadying breath, and closed his eyes. It was time to put his Aziraphale hat on. “ _Why?_ ”

Gabriel cleared his throat and shuffled a bit in his place. “It seemed the best choice. A lot less pain that way.”

Crowley opened his eyes just so he could squint at the big dummy. “What pain were you trying to erase? Gabriel,” he slid off the desk, still being careful to stay out of reach, “Things were going _great_. We haven’t had any incidents in _months_.”

“I know.” And there was a waver to his face, accompanied by the slightest shimmer in his eyes that told Crowley all he needed to know. It was a very good thing he was wearing his Aziraphale hat. 

“Listen, I get it.” He risked a few steps closer. “You’re waiting for the other shoe to drop, right?” 

Gabriel finally looked at him and Crowley stepped a little bit closer. 

“Everything’s been going so well that clearly something tremendously terrible is about to happen. Something so big and awful it will make every other event of the past seem like a walk in the park.”

Gabriel clenched his jaw tight and looked away again. 

Crowley sighed and deemed it safe to approach. He grabbed Gabriel’s face, trying to loosen his muscles a bit. “I know how you feel, okay? I’m worried about the future, too.”

“You do not know how I feel,” Gabriel told him. He glanced at Crowley’s face. “All of those incidents were because of me. Everything bad that happens to you all is _my_ fault.” He looked back down to the side. “And the next one would be mine as well.”

“So you just removed yourself from the equation?”

“It’s better that way.” He finally made eye-contact, raising his eyebrows a little. “Wasn’t it? Wasn’t it all better this morning?”

“It’s was fucking weird was what it was.”

“That’s because it didn’t stick! If you would just let me-”

Gabriel raised his hand again and Crowley grabbed the wrist, holding it down. He shook his head. “That’s not the way you get rid of your fears.”

“I don’t see any other option.”

Crowley growled. He could only wear the hat for so long before he lost his mind. He had no idea how Aziraphale was so calm and _nice_ all the time. “There are like a million other options! All of them better than that! Now you are going to go down there and _fix it_!”

Gabriel cleared his throat and looked away again. “I can’t.”

“What do you mean _you can’t_?”

“I’ve erased them,” Gabriel explained. “They’re gone. I can’t...just put them back.”

Crowley’s grip tightened on Gabriel’s wrist, hoping to break it. “You are going to figure out a way to fix this,” he warned with a glare. “Otherwise,” he tugged on Gabriel’s arm, pulling him down a bit, “You’re going to spend every day of your pitiful life _wishing_ it had worked on me the first time.”

Gabriel was very good at not letting it show physically, but in his eyes Crowley could see the fear. 

“Better get to work.” He patted Gabriel’s shoulder and left. 

-

It was afternoon by the time that Crowley got back. He had gone for a walk to cool himself off before returning home. After all, he didn’t want to accidentally snap at Aziraphale or the kids. He arrived at the house just as the school bus was pulling up. 

Only Oscar got off.

“What happened?” Crowley asked, grabbing his shoulder and looking around for A.J. “Where’s A.J.?”

“Lily's?” Oscar said, giving Crowley that same weird look from the morning. Half concerned and half scared. “It’s Monday.”

“Oh, right.” Crowley let out a heavy sigh. Even before the weird memory wipe A.J. had spent Monday’s afterschool at Lily’s house for computer camp or whatever it was they got up to. 

Oscar reached up, patting Crowley on the arm. “Are you alright, Pops? You’ve been weird all day.”

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Just...dealing with an idiot.”

Oscar nodded, then got a mischievous glint in his eye. “Is the idiot you?” 

“Wooooow,” Crowley said with a chuckle. He steered Oscar inside. “Don’t you have homework to go do?”

“It’s the first day,” Oscar said. He sighed. “But yeah.”

Crowley watched him walk upstairs, making sure that nothing happened. Once he heard the door to Oscar’s room close, he slipped into the study. 

Aziraphale was pouring over a pile of books on his desk, none that Crowley recognized. Aziraphale glanced over his shoulder and then sat up a bit, smiling. “Ah, Crowley. There you are. I believe I may have some answers. 

Crowley wandered over, placing his hands on the back of the chair. “Oh yeah?” He leaned over and studied the open book. It was in a language he couldn’t quite recognize. 

Aziraphale pulled a second book over and opened it, showing Crowley a diagram that had too many decorative pieces to be understandable. “As you can see, this proves my theory correct! You really must have slipped in from another universe!”

“It’s not that,” Crowley whined. He laid his head on top of Aziraphale’s. “Gabriel is just a dumbass who erased your memories.”

Aziraphale laughed. “Well, he can’t just _erase_ memories.”

There was a spark of hope in Crowley’s heart that he didn’t dare allow to grow. “Huh?”

“Memories are very weak, yes, but you can’t actually get rid of them. Hide them, sure? Convince them not to be recalled, of course. But erasing them?” Aziraphale shook his head. “Simply impossible.”

Crowley stood back up and tapped a finger to Aziraphale's head. “So, they’re still in there somewhere?”

Aziraphale chuckled. “If there are any memories of that sort, then yes. But I assure you,” he smiled with easy confidence, “My memories are not so easily convinced, hm?”

Crowley walked around and sat against the edge of the desk. “Alright. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that he _had_ hidden our memories. How come I got mine back but none of you did?”

Aziraphale hummed and leaned back in his chair. He folded his hands before him and worked out the puzzle in his mind. “Well, you must have seen or done something that brought those memories back. Something that so strongly reminded you of them, that they simply couldn’t be held back any longer.”

“Right...something so charged with the essence of Gabriel that I had to remember?”

Aziraphale nodded. “Exactly.”

Crowley looked around at all the books as he thought on that. “Right. Thanks, angel.” He jumped up and raced out the door, ignoring Aziraphale calling after him.

-

Crowley decided to start with Oscar. He was the one most likely to actually help him with A.J. and Aziraphale once he remembered things. So Crowley raced to his room and let himself in without a second thought. 

Oscar looked back at him over his shoulder, an open notebook on the desk before him. “Hey, Pops,” he said. “What’s up?”

“Where’s that space rock you got?” Crowley asked, already snooping around on Oscar’s shelves. He may have outgrown the obsession of his youth, but the kid still collected rocks like it was nobody’s business. But Crowley was looking for one, very specific, rock.

“Space rock?” Oscar laughed a bit. “I mean, _technically_ -”

Crowley held a hand up. “Don’t. Where’s the one you got when you turned nine?”

Oscar shrugged and stood up. “Why?” He grabbed a box from the top of one shelf and pulled out a fist-sized purple rock. It glowed softly. 

Crowley took it from him with a victorious grin and held it up. “Where did you get this?”

“Uh, space?”

Crowley rolled his eyes. “I mean how?”

Oscar shrugged again. “You took me up there for my birthday?”

“Did I?”

“Yes?”

Crowley leaned over, looking Oscar in the eyes, holding the rock between them. “ _Did I_?”

Oscar opened his mouth, then blinked a few times, his eyebrows furrowing…

_  
“It’s important to remember not to try and breathe,” Aziraphale said, smoothing down the front of Oscar’s shirt. He nodded. “And don’t go trying to fly on your own yet. Stay with Gabriel.” Oscar nodded again._

_“Relax, Angel,” Crowley said, pulling him away from Oscar. “They’ll be fine.”_

_“I assure you I will keep him safe,” Gabriel said. Oscar smiled and grabbed Gabriel’s hand, feeling safer already. “And we won’t be long.”_

_“Make sure you get a good one,” A.J. told him, gently nudging his shoulder. “Like a diamond or something.” Oscar nodded at her and gave a thumbs up._

_“Alright, dears. Do be safe.” Aziraphale stepped back up to them and kissed them each on the cheek. “And have fun.”_

_Oscar smiled, because how could he not have fun? He was going to space!_

_“Are you ready?” Gabriel asked, turning to him. Oscar nodded and squeezed Gabriel’s hand a bit. There was a pop of energy and a set of large, purple wings spread out behind Gabriel, full of hard, straight feathers._

_Oscar closed his eyes and focused on his shoulder blades, listening to the energy that lived inside him. It took a little more time (and Aziraphale had assured him it would get easier as he grew up), but eventually he brought his own wings into existence. He looked over his shoulder and smiled at the dusty-pink color of them, like a lovely shade of rock._

_With one last check from Aziraphale, Oscar held tight to Gabriel’s hand and jumped up with him. He tilted and wavered as he got used to moving in the wind. Thankfully Gabriel was there to help steady him, making sure no gusts pulled him away. And before long, there wasn’t much air to fight against anyway._

_They were in space._

_Oscar laughed as the atmosphere left them and their bodies became weightless, easily maneuvered by the push of their wings. Up here, without any wind or fear of falling, Oscar was more confident in his abilities to fly. But he still held tight to Gabriel’s hand, for safety._

_It was everything like Oscar could hope for. A cold in the vacuum around them that didn’t seem to affect the two of them. Soft clouds of dust and light that tickled his skin. Colors in planets and rocks they passed unlike anything that could be found on Earth. But none were the color that Oscar was on the hunt for._

_Gabriel pulled him up to another ringed planet, watching him as Oscar watched the rocks that flew past. He shook his head and Gabriel frowned slightly. He knew Gabriel was getting impatient. He probably had work to do. But he had promised Oscar the perfect space rock for his birthday, and that’s what he was going to get._

_Gabriel held his spare hand up to his chin and waved his fingers a bit. Oscar pointed up to Gabriel’s eyes. Gabriel smiled, closed his eyes a bit, and then gestured to the left, tugging Oscar along._

_They flew for a few minutes more, getting further and further from home, but closer to their goal. It was an asteroid, only a few meters in diameter, that lazily floated along in a belt several systems away. It was a deep purple, and it glowed softly._

_Oscar nearly gasped, but he remembered Aziraphale’s warning and just smiled instead. He nodded at Gabriel, his wings wobbling behind him._

_Gabriel’s smile widened. He reached out, grabbing a small chunk of the asteroid. With the flex of his wrist he pulled it away and presented it to Oscar. Oscar took it with a gentle hand, feeling the rough, crystalized surface that had been revealed._

_“Happy Birthday,” Gabriel signed. And it truly was.  
_

Oscar blinked again, and shook his head slightly. Crowley bounced on his feet, waiting to make sure it stuck. When Oscar stared at him, saying nothing, he knew it had worked. 

“Thank goodness for space rocks,” Crowley mumbled, pulling Oscar into a tight hug. 

“What happened?” Oscar signed as they pulled apart. 

“The idiot that Aziraphale and I chose to love decided to wipe our memories.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s an idiot! Now C’mon, we gotta fix the Aziraphales.”

They hopped over to A.J.’s room and Crowley started rummaging through her closet. “We’re looking for anything Gabriel would have given her,” he explained. 

Oscar tugged on his arm. “Sir Reginald Laser-Sword?”

“Laser-Sword!! Oscar you little genius!” Crowley grabbed his shoulders and kissed the top of his head. “Now, where would she keep him…”

“I’m all for the invasion of privacy, just not when it’s mine.”

The two turned to the doorway where A.J. was standing, arms crossed, scowling at them. 

“A.J.! Good, you’re home. Crowley stumbled his way over to her. “Where do you keep Sir Reginald these days?”

A.J. scoffed and looked around the room. “What? I don’t-I don’t still have him. That’s ridiculous.”

Crowley squinted and studied her face. There was just the slightest twitch of her eye. “Under the bed!”

Oscar dropped to the floor and reached under, retrieving the old teddy bear from under the mattress. It was small, and the fur was long worn away even before they had gotten it. One of the missing eyes, however, was the fault of one Aziraphale Jr. 

“Okay fine! So I still have my childhood teddy bear! What of it?” A.J. snatched it from Oscar’s hands and held it to her body, possibly hugging it, possibly trying to hide it. 

“I think it’s sweet,” Oscar signed. A.J. gave him a look, and stuck her tongue out.

Crowley ignored their squabbling. “Who gave you that bear?”

“You really are crazy, aren’t you?”

“Just answer the question.” There was no time for this sass. Honestly, Crowley didn’t know where the two of them picked it up. 

“You did...right?”

Crowley raised an eyebrow at her. She looked down at the bear in her hands and frowned at it. 

“I...think…”

-

_A.J. laid in her bed, very still, and watched the shadows of her nightlight dance across the walls. They had gotten her a rotating one, with little birds, so it looked like they were flying over her head. It was beautiful, and it kept the room in a soft glow. But it did nothing to stop her fears once she closed her eyes._

_So if she never closed her eyes, she would be fine._

_The door creaked open and A.J. met Crowley’s gaze. He sighed and stepped into the room. “Still awake, huh?”_

_“If I never sleep,” she explained, “I’ll never have any nightmares.”_

_He sat on the edge of her bed and placed a comforting hand on her knee. “You’re gonna have to sleep sooner or later, kid.”_

_A.J. shook her head. “No I don’t. Dad never sleeps.”_

_“He sleeps sometimes.”_

_A.J. crossed her arms and pouted. She would not lose this argument._

_“Alright, alright. C’mon then.” Crowley reached over and held his arms out. A.J. crawled out of the covers and into his hold. “If you aren’t going to sleep you might as well do something.”_

_“Dad said I had to stay in my bed all night,” A.J. reminded him as he carried her downstairs._

_“He sure did.”_

_A.J. laughed a little and rested her head on Crowley’s shoulder. Gabriel was sitting on the couch; Aziraphale hidden away in his study for the night. She smiled, not sleeping was even better than she hoped._

_“Everything alright?” Gabriel asked, studying the two as they approached. He looked ready to stand up, but settled again as Crowley sat down, A.J. in his lap._

_“Can’t sleep,” Crowley explained._

_“Won’t sleep,” A.J. corrected._

_Crowley chuckled and A.J. felt her eyes growing heavy. Which wasn’t fair. She fought the tired that grew inside her. But the drone of the T.V. in the background with the comforting sight of Crowley and Gabriel holding hands was too strong. She was slipping into sleep. And before long, into another nightmare._

_Realizing this was happening, A.J. pulsed some adrenaline through her body and jolted up._

_“Hey, hey,” Crowley whispered, rubbing her back to help calm her breath. “It’s okay, you’re alright.”_

_A.J. whimpered, tears escaping her eyes, unsure if it was from fear or exhaustion. She looked around the living room, finding that Gabriel was gone. Crowley reached up and wiped away her tears._

_“Where’s father?” she asked._

_“No idea,” Crowley told her. “Said he’d be right back.”_

_A.J. nodded and watched the T.V. as her heart calmed down again. “Why can’t you just use magic to make them go away?”_

_She saw Crowley twitch a small smile. “I wish we could, kiddo.”_

_They settled back down, A.J. fearing the sleep that was creeping up on her again. But then the door opened, bringing a breath of cold air with it that helped wake her up._

_“Where did you run off to?” Crowley asked._

_“Just had to stop by the office,” Gabriel explained. He sat down on the couch and smiled softly at A.J. “I have something that will help.”_

_A.J. tilted her head, eyeing the hand he held behind his back. He presented her with a small, old, worn teddy bear. She took it, because it was the polite thing to do, but sneered at it a little, cause it was kind of ugly._

_“Where did you find that thing?” Crowley asked, voice mimicking A.J.’s face._

_“He’s been in the archive room for a while,” Gabriel explained. “He was too powerful for the humans, so we took him back. But I figured he could be of some use here.”_

_“Powerful?” A.J. asked. She ran her fingers over the bear’s chest, feeling the little gold medal, worn away to a dull silver color, that decorated his fur. “What’s that.”_

_“It’s the medal he got in 1357,” Gabriel explained._

_“How does a teddy bear get a medal?” Crowley asked with a scoff._

_“Fighting off nightmares.”_

_Crowley started to laugh but A.J.’s eyes widened, looking up at Gabriel with the hope she’s been waiting for. “Really? They give out medals for that?”_

_Gabriel nodded. “He protected an entire village from them in Germany.”_

_“Sure he did,” Crowley said._

_Gabriel frowned at him. “He did.”_

_“And he’ll protect me?” A.J. asked. Crowley furrowed his eyebrows at her. Maybe he and Aziraphale couldn’t magic away her nightmares. Maybe they were the kind that could only be beaten into submission._

_“He will. He’s missed field work these days. He’ll serve you well.”_

_A.J. smiled at him. “You’re a little old,” she said, smoothing down some of the fur on his ear. “And kind of messy. But I think that’s fitting of a soldier.”_

_“Whadda say?” Crowley asked. “Ready to give sleep another shot?”_

_A.J. nodded and he carried her upstairs, Gabriel trailing after. She got herself tucked in, holding Sir Reginald Laser-Sword close to her chest._

_“Don’t worry, Pops,” she mumbled, eyes already closing. “You can still keep me safe from the awake things.”_

_Crowley smiled and leaned over to kiss her forehead. “Sleep well, kiddo.”_

_And she did._

__

A.J. rubbed at her eyes and when she blinked them open, they were purple again. “What the fuck happened?”

“Gabriel is an idiot who wiped our memories,” Crowley said. 

“Why?”

“Because he’s an idiot.”

A.J. sighed. “What the fuck?”

“You’re telling me!”

“But, like, we remember now? Right?”

Crowley shook his head and stepped into the hall. “Not all of us.” He leaned over the railing, checking to see if the door to the study was still closed. “Aziraphale is still forgetting.”

“So how do we get him to remember?”

“That’s where I need your help!” Crowley spun around, pointing at the two of them. “Did either of you ever notice a time when Gabriel gave Aziraphale something? Like a gift?”

“Father doesn’t really do gifts,” A.J. said. 

“I know, which is the problem! Why is he so _stupid_?”

“So why did you marry him?” Oscar asked. 

“Because apparently love is not just blind, it’s also stupid-proof.”

“If we can’t find anything Father gave to Dad, what can we do instead?” A.J. asked.

“I don’t know!” Crowley threw his hands in the air and started pacing. He figured if he got the kids to help him talk to Aziraphale, they could at least convince him what had happened. Maybe then _he_ would have some ideas on what would help knock those pesky memories loose. “We just need something charged with the essence of Gabriel.”

“Why not....Gabriel?” A.J. offered.

Crowley stopped pacing and stared at her. She was right. Why _not_ Gabriel. Nothing was more charged with his essence than...well, him.

“How did the two of you get so smart?” Crowley asked them. 

They shrugged. “Dad.”

“Ha. Ha. Now go get him, I have a plan.”

The twins raced downstairs and Crowley followed at a slower pace, typing on his phone as he half-watched his feet on the steps.

“What’s going on?” Aziraphale asked as the kids dragged him out of the study. 

At the same time, Crowley ran into Gabriel, who had materialized as soon as Crowley hit send. “What’s wrong?”

“Gabriel!” Aziraphale said, surprised. Gabriel looked over at him. “Gabriel?” Aziraphale said, confused. His face hardened. “ _Gabriel_.” Gabriel gulped, looking at the three of them. A.J. and Oscar both crossed their arms.

“Someone’s in trouble,” Crowley sang in his ear. 

Aziraphale took a deep, calming breath. He smiled. “A.J., Oscar, would you please go upstairs for a few minutes?”

“Aw, c’mon! We wanna yell at him, too!” A.J. complained. Oscar nodded, and Gabriel backed up, leaning on Crowley slightly. 

“Now, please,” Aziraphale said. 

A.J. and Oscar grumbled, but made their way up, glaring at Gabriel as they went. 

Gabriel stared at Aziraphale, and Aziraphale stared at him, neither speaking in a tense moment. 

Crowley popped his lips. “So, uh, drinks anyone?”

“What were you thinking?” Aziraphale asked. He advanced on Gabriel, who stepped back until he hit the wall. It was kind of funny, seeing him so scared. 

“I thought it was for the best,” Gabriel said. 

“The best? How could forgetting you be for the best?”

Crowley took mercy on the miserable looking Gabriel. He stepped between the two of them, holding Aziraphale back with an arm. “Gabriel was worried he would cause the great collapse of civilization.”

Aziraphale looked between the two of them, rightly confused. “What?”

“Things had been going so well,” Gabriel explained. “Too well. And I worried...I knew that something I would do would make everything turn bad.”

Aziraphale relaxed a little, muscles softening against Crowley’s arm. “So you just...pretended like it never happened? Made us forget you?”

Gabriel shrugged and looked down at the ground. “It seemed the right thing to do.”

“Well, I hope by now you realize that it wasn’t.”

Gabriel nodded, weak, dejected. He was a mess and Crowley felt a little sorry for him. He stepped to the side, letting Aziraphale walk forward. 

Aziraphale reached up and placed a hand on Gabriel’s cheek. “This life doesn’t make sense without you in it.”

Gabriel nodded and swallowed hard. “How did you end up remembering?”

Aziraphale opened his mouth but Crowley cut him off. “Better not tell him, Angel. Don’t want to give him ideas on fixing it for a future attempt.”

“I promise,” Gabriel said, looking at Crowley, purple eyes meeting yellow. “I will never try something like this again.”

Crowley squinted at him and stepped closer, arms around Aziraphale’s waist as he stood behind him. “We just needed something that reminded us of you more than anything else.”

“Or someone,” Aziraphale added with a chuckle. He stroked over Crowley’s arm. “What did remind you, dear? You knew this whole time.”

Crowley shrugged. “I’m lucky, see. I’ve got the greatest gifts of all from you two.”

“What’s that?” Gabriel asked. 

“Who,” Crowley corrected. “A.J. and Oscar.”

Aziraphale smiled and melted into his hold. Then he stood up a bit straighter, clapping his hands. “That settles it, then! Gabriel and I will have a child!”


End file.
